ABB, the solar industry’s leading power technology and grid interconnection solutions provider, and Power-One Inc., a leading provider of solar and energy-efficient power conversion and power management solutions, have recently completed their merger and will come together this week for the first time at the Solar Power International conference.

The merger, announced earlier this year at a value of approximately $1 billion, instantly makes ABB the leading global supplier of solar photovoltaic (PV) inverters, which play a key role in converting the sun’s energy into electric current and controlling its flow onto the power grid. Power-One has one of the solar industry’s most comprehensive offerings of solar inverters, ranging from residential to utility applications, and a broad global manufacturing footprint. It also has a power solutions portfolio that is adjacent to ABB’s business.

ABB’s leading portfolio in power and automation, global footprint, its service organization and its renewable energy grid-integration technologies make it a natural player in solar PV. ABB has brought its solutions to the solar PV industry for many years. Solar inverters are one of the fastest-developing technologies in power electronics, requiring substantial research and development (R&D) resources. In 2012, ABB invested about $1.5 billion in R&D overall.

The solar PV industry is projected for 10 percent-plus annual growth as PV-generated power rapidly approaches grid parity in many countries, and will change the energy mix in the long term.

“The union of ABB and Power-One creates an instant market leader thanks to our combined product portfolio and global sales and service networks,” said Bob Stojanovic, director of ABB’s Solar Power solutions, North America. “We are thrilled to join forces with Power-One this week at SPI, and we’re all looking forward to a bright common future together as we address the growing worldwide demand for innovative solar PV solutions that will empower the rapidly-growing solar industry.”

“We are very excited about joining the ABB family. Together ABB and Power-One will create a market leader through our combined global sales and service networks and Power-One’s extensive and competitive portfolio of solar inverters,” said Alex Levran, president of Power-One’s renewable energy solutions business. “With ABB’s deep breadth of resources we are in a position to provide a more comprehensive range of solutions to our customers by accessing capabilities across all divisions within ABB. ABB is the right partner and now is the ideal time for our companies to join forces.”